The Fairy Nappers
by BlackroseCo
Summary: Set in the history of Fiore's strongest guild, stands a trio of mages that have made a mark upon the land. Forgotten overtime, a powerful anti-mage, a 14 year old with a thing for puppets, and the most talented violinist in Ishgal. Now awakened by the 1rst master of the Guild, they now search for the reason behind their 37 year hibernation. A great evil awaits them.
1. Prologue An Awakening

"Hehehe, now is the day I end you." Natsu yelled excitedly, jumping into the air to attack Gray. Gray moved his head just enough to dodge the kick, and ducked under the rest of Natsu's body allowing him to overextend himself before he socked him in the gut. Gray stepped away from his chair, and almost in an instant his clothes had disappeared.

"Gray, get your clothes back on you pervert." Natsu yelled, as he pulled himself off the table that he had just landed on. Gray looked down at himself in mock embarrassment, and then clamped his right fist against his open left hand to start casting some magic.

"Same old day here isn't it." Lucy sighed, looking over at Levy and Mira Jane who sat comfortably around the same table leafing through some old Weekly Wizard magazines that lay on the desk.

"Don't mind them, they'll probably be like that when their old and deaf as well." Mira Jane said, laughing to herself.

"You're probably right." Lucy replied.

"Come on Girls, I need your help with this." Lucy and Mira Jane had been roped into Levy's search into the past of their own Guild. The recent return of the mainstay Fairy Tail mages from Tenrou Island had really been an upset in the local environments of Magnolia and Ishgal. The weekly sorcerer had called them up asking for a special article on the history of one of the strongest guilds in all of Ishgal. Makarov had put Levy chan in charge of it, cause if anyone could wring out all of the important facts out of the pretty shoddy records that had been kept within the guild.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Lucy said in excitement. "I found someone." She quickly folded the old magazine in half, and started to point to the full page spread. The picture on the page depicted a stunningly beautiful girl of about 17 years of age with a modest calf length pleated red skirt, a bright pink camisole covered by a white button down short sleeve shirt with puffed sleeves. Her curly hair was held back into two very pronounced tails that extended down below her shoulders. There seemed to be music flowing out of the grainy picture, each note almost fully becoming visible off of the battered violin that she held in her slender hands. The point that Lucy pointed at though was the fingernails, each one a different shade of red and pink, but holding a small Fairy Tail guild insignia on each.

"I've never seen her before." Mira Jane noted.

"I've only seen her once or twice before, but she seemed pretty popular back at the time." Levy replied. "Is there any more information about her in the article?" Lucy looked back at the article for a few seconds, a small sweat drop appearing on her head.

"All I've got is her name, it's the fashion section." She complained.

"Well, the name should be enough. What is it?" Levy asked.

"Elizabeth Williams." Lucy replied. Levy started ruffling through a bunch of other papers, trying to find any reference to the name.

"Uuuuuuh, nothing." Levy complained.

"Maybe the Master would know, he's the only old guy that has stuck around inside the guild after all." Mira Jane commented.

"Good idea." Levy said, before she jumped up from her seat and waved Master Makarov over for questioning.

"Elizabeth Williams?" He said, a look of long lost memories crossed his face for a few seconds. This was soon replaced by a look of sadness.

"One of the happiest mages I have ever seen come through this guild. Her and her two brothers could be relied on for almost any job. Elizabeth was the oldest of the three, and one of the greatest musicians that you had ever heard. She literally turned her talent into magic. Next oldest was Seth De'Klan, one of the best anti-mage mages that I have ever seen. Though they did cause their own share of troubles back then as well. Namely the youngest brother, Zach Hunter." A look of annoyance crossed his face. " The rascal once stole my most precious hat, and fed it to a feral boar during a job. He then brought the pig home, and handed it to me when I asked about my hat." Makarov grumbled unintelligibly for a few more seconds.

"What happened to them?" Levy asked nervously. Another sad look came across his face.

"All three of them disappeared on Tenrou Island 37 years ago when they were taking their own S class test. I still go looking for them every time I'm on the island."

"Ohhh, that's so sad." Levy chan and Lucy cried.

"Yeah, I would love to find out what happened to them someday." Makarov said, before he was suddenly bowled over by a flying Natsu and Gray.

"What's the big deal?" They both cried in unison. A dark red aura shut them up as they stared up into the furious eyes of Erza.

9898989898989898989898989898989898989898989898989898989898989

"Hey Sleepy heads it's time to wake up." A voice shouted. The three woke up, to see a very bright light hanging just above them, long tresses of hair flowing around the form of a small angel like being. They slowly rose to their feet, groaning with pain from their prolonged hibernation, not at all comfortable with the competing lights of the 1rst, and the blazing sun far above their heads.


	2. Chap 1 Circle Breaker

Seth hung miserably over the side of the their makeshift raft, almost literally drying up from the power of the high sun. It was easily 35 degrees Celsius out here in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of nowhere. The ocean spread out before them with absolutely no end in sight, and Seth was the one that was suffering the most. He hated the humidity, absolutely hated it. Every last bit of his tattered and torn clothing was drenched with sweat. He tried futilely to splash water onto his chest, to cool himself off, but it seemed to completely dry off a minute later, and then he was just as miserable as before.

"Land Ho." Zach called out suddenly. Seth jumped up to his feet, only to hit his head on the piece of driftwood that they had been using as a rudder. Seth fell back onto the deck of their small boat holding onto his head with his hands, he suddenly developed a headache, and he could feel the bruise already forming on top of his head.

Zach dropped the piece of wood to the floor, laughing maniacally.

"I got you soo goood." He crooned as he rolled across rough logs that made up the bottom of their boat. His movements upset the boat considerably, almost causing the already unsteady vessel to flounder in the still ocean waters.

Elizabeth picked up the offending rudder, and delivered swift payback to Zach's rear end. His mirth was cut short just as swiftly as it had started.

"Ow." He cried.

"Stop shaking the boat, Shorty. You're going to capsize us." She yelled. Everyone was starting to get a little cranky, the heat, and circumstances had been grinding on all of their nerves.

"Plus you shouldn't be lying to us. There is no land in sight." She muttered moodily.

"Well sorry princess." Zach said, sticking out his tongue at Elizabeth. She raised the rudder piece again, ready to smack him again.

"I wasn't lying though." He replied defensively, pointing his finger towards the north. Elizabeth suspiciously swung her gaze to follow his pointed finger, and dropped the rudder in shock when she found out that Zack wasn't lying.

"It's true." She cried in excitement. Seth popped himself up off of the deck, and grabbed the before piece of wood, and started to use it as a paddle to push them farther towards the island. Elizabeth and Zach grabbed the actual oars that they had fashioned, and began to join in the mad scramble towards the island.

98998989898989898989898989898989898989898989989898

They soon found themselves on a wonderfully luscious tropical island about the size of a decent sized city. The beach they had landed on, seemed entirely abandoned, except for a number of birds pecking at the large amounts of coconuts that lay half buried in the sandy soil.

"Land, sweet, Land." Seth and Elizabeth cried, almost dancing in joy as their feet touched the sand. They pulled the boat as far up shore as they possibly could, before trying to go and explore the island.

After several miles of walking down the beach, they were wonderfully surprised when they spotted the top of a light tower appear off in the distance. Seth stopped for a second, allowing the other two to walk ahead of him a few paces.

"Do you hear thunder?" He asked to no one in general.

"Huh, what did you say?" Elizabeth asked, turning her head around to look back at Seth.

"Oh, it's probably nothing." Seth replied.

They continued their hike around a bend in the shoreline, soon finding the full view of their destination. The light tower stood atop the highest point on the other side of a small lagoon. Just below the majestic looking tower was what appeared to be the only break in the sand bar that sheltered the lagoon from some of the larger waves that crashed against the side of the island. Slightly inland, just above the broad beach at the back of the lagoon sat a sunny seaside village, with a few mid size ships anchored out in the deeper waters of the lagoon.

"Such a pretty little place." Elizabeth crooned. " I bet their food tastes fantastic."

"Is that the only thing you can think of?" Zach asked with a mischievous smile on his face. Seth quickly backhanded him across the back of the head, before the situation got worse.

"Hey." He muttered. Elizabeth ignored the two before breaking out in a run towards the village. Zach and Seth quickly followed after her, and they soon found themselves standing at the entrance to the village.

The sounds of chickens, people bartering over supplies, meth their ears as they entered in, and took stock of the quaint little place that over 600 people found home.

"Ho, new comer," came a voice from one of the stalls filled with delectable looking fruit, with an older fellow with shorts, and a funky looking hat.

"Ho, Old man with a beard." Zach called back with a smirk. Seth smacked him across the head.

"Sorry about that, he's a punk." Elizabeth said to the stall owner.

"Hey." Zach complained, glaring at Elizabeth and Seth. The old man just laughed.

"It's good to be young, now isn't it kid?" He said straight to Zach.

"Better than being an old woman like the one I get to travel with all the time." He said, nodding his head. This earned him another smack across the head from Elizabeth. The old man just started to laugh a little harder.

"It's good to see a bunch of young people like you with a sense of humor." He laughed. "Especially the runt." Zach's glare suddenly swiveled over to the old man.

"I'm not a runt." He muttered.

"As much of a runt as I've ever seen. " The old guy countered. Elizabeth's chuckle turned into a full body laugh at this. His eyes suddenly lit up as he took a good look at Elizabeth.

"Today's just full of surprises." He laughs, mirth clearly shown in his bright eyes. "Haven't seen a girl as beautiful as you for a good 40 years."

"Why thank you." Elizabeth said curtsying.

"Where you all from?" He said, the mirth never leaving his eyes.

"We just washed up actually." Seth replied. "Somehow got stranded on an island off in that direction." He said pointing towards the east, or at least where he thought east was. The old shoppe owner cocked his head.

"You got stranded on the mainland?" He asked. Now it was Zach's turn to laugh.

"You'll have to forgive him, he's always been bad with directions." Zach said between laughs.

"It sure sounds like it. Maybe if I got him a map it could help his sense of directions." The old man said.

"That wouldn't work either." Zach replied. "He'd just try to follow the contour lines like a trail and land us in a wolves den." This all was too much for the old man, and he doubled over laughing, with Zach soon following after him as Seth pounds him in the stomach.

"So worth it." Said Zach, laughing through the pain. After a minute of good laughter, the stall owner finally stood up, tears standing prominent in his eyes.

"It's been a long, long time since I've laughed this hard." He said, a note of sadness appearing in his voice.

"This place seems like paradise, why wouldn't you laugh?" Elizabeth asked.

"Haven't been able to due to the lighthouse situation." He said, the smile completely disappearing. "The mage that we had hired to run the lighthouse turned out to be a nasty pirate. He would wait until it got dark, or foggy, and then lure certain ships right into the sandbar on the other side of the lagoon. His team would then pop up and steal everything, and then destroy the ship." He seemed to get more depressed the longer he spoke. "The last ship that landed astray was mine own, and they took everything except for the fruits you see here."

"Why doesn't anybody do anything against him?" Seth asked.

"Nobody can touch him up in the light tower. Every time they try, he zaps them with his lightning magic. It got worse just yesterday when he decided to kidnap all of the young ladies on the island." The old man said.

"What's he going to do with them?" Elizabeth said, putting her hand over her mouth in shock.

"XXXXXXXX or XXXXX, whichever kind of person he is." He replied. Elizabeth blushed dramatically.

A large flash of light suddenly appeared above the village, followed by a resounding crash. The only ship in the harbor had been struck by a very large lightening bolt, which struck in two places. Once at the stern, severely damaging the rudder of the ship, and twice at the base of the mast. Loud cracking of timbers reverberated from the ship, and the mast falls over into the water. All of the crew appeared on deck, and scrambled frantically from one side to the other in panic. Their captain appeared on board, trying desperately to calm his struggling crew.

Boats suddenly appeared from the far side of the lagoon, and they quickly sailed over to the side of the large ship, and started to throw lines up the side of the ship. The pirates clambered on to deck, and quickly got to work, killing any of the crew that tried to fight back.

"We've got to do something." Elizabeth cried.

Seth was the first into motion, seeming to blur for a second, and then he was no longer standing next to the stall. He appeared several hundred feet away, when he accidently tripped over the fence on the outside of the village. He unceremoniously keeled over, face planting right into the sand. He looked down at his legs, and his fears were confirmed. Normally Seth had two braces on, providing a very substantial speed boost, which helped his magic abilities. He quickly got up, dusted himself off, and then blurred again, appearing on the beach right before the waves, mass waves of sand blowing around due to his speedy passage. One more blur, and he found himself hanging unsteadily off of the bowsprit. He quickly pulled himself up and over the railing, right in front one of the mangiest looking men he had ever seen.

The man pulled his hand back, clenched it into a fist, and then brought it forward. Seth deftly dodged out of the way, and then brought his braced shin into contact with the man's side. The pirate grunted in pain, and grabbed at his belt, quickly pulling a knife out.

Seth smartly jumped back away from the deranged pirate. He reached into his own pocket, and pulled out what seemed to look like a small disc. It's bright white color, and fantastic designs were mesmerizing in the bright sunlight.

The pirate saw none of this though, and lunged forward with his knife held firmly in his right hand, aiming straight for Seth's jugular. Seth calmly waited for him to get with in several inches of him, and then activated the disc with a slight twitch of his finger. A large magic circle suddenly appeared right between the two opponents, and a wave of white energy engulfed the mangy pirate. He flew back as if struck by a gigantic force, and collided with the railing. He slumped over unconscious, and dazed.

Seth pumped his fist in the air in victory, and then looked around for his next pirate. All he found were a bunch of unconscious and wounded. Not a pirate was in sight.

9898989898989898989898989898989898989898989898989898989898

Only after helping all of the hurt crewmen to shore, did Seth learn his mistake.

"Yeah, by the time you showed up on our ship, all of the pirates had mysteriously disappeared by then." Said one of the crewmen who they were helping to bandage up some of the cuts he had sustained from the attack.

"Then who was the mangy guy that attacked me when I got on board?" Seth asked.

"That would be our captain. Not the prettiest feller, but I w'ld trust me life in his hands any day." The crewman responded.

"Where'd the pirates go then?" Seth asked. "I got there as soon as I could."

"Right after you landed face down in the sand." Zach snickered. Seth ignored him, keeping his attention on the crewman.

"They dropped off the side of the ship with their desired cargo right as you climbed aboard. Then their boats just seemed to disappear in a fog that had appeared." He continued. " It's like magic was used."

"Lightning, fog…" Seth said talking to himself. Elizabeth met his gaze.

"Weather control magic?" She asked. Seth nodded.

"If it is, then it usually takes longer to cast a spell than normal." He replied.

"Your familiar with this magic?" The stall owner asked.

"I'm familiar with most magic. Weather control is actually an easier magic to learn, and control due to its longer cast time. It has some really good uses in commercial pursuits, especially when you're on the sea. Good weather, always good winds etc." Seth replied.

"How do we take him out?" The old timer asked.

"Weather Control takes a lot of focus, since you have to mix several elements together to get the desired effect. Rub some cloud magic together, and you get some very strong lightning without even having to cast a lightning spell." Seth replied. He then looked over at Elizabeth with a cunning smile. "We're going to distract him of course."

98989898989898989898989898989899898998989898

Sarak Skyrfol lazily strolled down the seaside cliff line with no clear intention. He was the strongest mage to be found on this island, heck he was the only mage to be found on this island. Everything here was his, and any ship that dared to enter into the protected harbor belonged to him as well.

It really was a simple thing with his Weather magic. Cause a huge storm to pop up as soon as he saw a ship enter with in range of the island, and force the suckers into port. Mess with the winds at just the right time, and they would beach themselves on the sandbar on the outside of the lagoon. Strike them with a few lightning bolts, and then his crew moved in for the haul. Simple as that.

Sarak cursed the fact that as of now, there had yet to be any pretty girls on any of these ships. He had solaced his frustration in the bodies of the local island girls, but he wanted something more… classy. Something pure and fresh from the mainland, that he could spoil. His mouth curled up in a perverted smile, he had heard that there just might be one down in the village at this very moment. One of his lackeys had tipped him off that there was some really girl that had recently washed ashore; it was his time to dance.

He walked into the village, chuckling evilly to himself when he saw the people of the village run into their houses as fast as they possibly could. It felt great to be evil. As he strolled, he caught a glimpse of what he was looking for. A mainland beauty, a little roughed up from the sea voyage, but pure as snow. Her ragged hair formed a bright halo around her beautiful face, and Sarak started to salivate with excitement. He would enjoy himself tonight.

Sarak barged right up to the group, and grabbed the girls pretty little wrist. She jumped in surprise, and tried to pull her hand away, but he kept his hand firmly on her wrist.

"Let me go." She said, glaring at him.

"Not before you entertain me a little." He said, his creepy smile growing just a little bigger.

"Get off of her." A little runt said, punting Sarak's crotch with his boot. Sarak let go, and fell to the ground in pain. This little brat was going to pay.

As soon as Sarak could get up he started preparing his magic. He gathered all of the necessary moisture in the air around him, and then formed two separate circles. He rubbed them together in anticipation; this was going to hurt the little runt very badly.

"You're dead kid." He said, again his creepy smile taking over his face. A few seconds later the spell was almost complete, and all he needed was to activate the finished spell to launch the lightning and kill the kid. He moved his fingers and cried out his attack "Cloud Shock". He let the magic circle go, and waited for the two circles to collide.

A sudden blur crossed his vision, and the two spells disappeared. He frowned. Did the spells cancel out? He'd never seen this happen before. In frustration he started the casting process again, preparing for the attack. When he finished this spell, he let it loose again only to see the exact same thing happen. Both spells disappeared just as they had before.

"Wha…?" He said in confusion. Well if these spells wouldn't work, then he needed something a bit more powerful. He pulled in all latent storm energy from the surrounding area, and poured it all into two separate spells. He smiled when he noticed the runt, and the woman cowering in shock before the amount of raw power that he was gathering into his mighty hands. The spell climaxed, the spell circle grew to its apex, and….. It disappeared. Sarak looked down at his hands in shock, his confidence more than a little shaken. He had failed to cast the spell, but… how?

Another kid, about the same age as his prey, blurred into view, with a broad smile on his face.

"Where'd you come from?" Sarak commanded. The kid raised his hands, small circles held proudly in his hands.

"Oh, I've always been here." He replied. Sarak looked closer at the kid's hands, and his mouth dropped. The small circles in his hands were his very own spell circles.

"You little thief." Sarak growled, his anger skyrocketing. This time the kid wasn't going to be the only one to suffer. He started to cast another, but then fell over. A sudden wave of exhaustion had dropped over him; he had used up all of his mana in that last spell. He recovered before he could get captured, and ran away, tripping over himself as he frantically scrambled back up the cliff side. They were going to pay, and he had a whole crew of pirates that were going to lay waste to the entire town.

9898989898989898989898989898989898989898989898989898

"Woohoo." Zach cried, slapping Seth across the back. Seth cringed in pain, and nearly fell over.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked concerned.

"I lost my balance on that last one and landed in the fruit cart." Seth said wincing as he moved a little to the left, away from Zach.

"Oh, you poor thing." Elizabeth said.

"How come it's always you poor thing when he gets hurt?" Zach demanded of Elizabeth. She flatly ignored him.

"Sorry about your cart." Seth said, trying to bow in apology to the owner.

"As long as it helps to get rid of the bad guy, you can destroy my fruit as much as you like. Now we just have to deal with the pirates." He replied.

"Too easy." Seth said. "If you could help me over to the beach, I believe I could fix that problem." The old man picked Seth up without further comment and deposited him on his shoulder. They walked quickly down to the beach, and the stall owner deposited Seth gently on the beach.

Already they could see the small boats of the pirates coming out of the cave that was right below the tall lighthouse. They all stuck close together, ready to land on the beach as soon as possible, and attack the village en masse.

Seth let them come farther into the lagoon, until he knew that they were in earshot. He spotted Sarak in the middle boat, and yelled out to him.

"Hey Sarak. This is how you need to cast your spells." Seth said. He brought all 6 of the discs, and then activated them, pouring enough of his own mana into the spells to amplify them. He then let all six of them collide together.

A blast of wind quickly followed by one of the largest lightning bolts anyone present had ever seen shot from the writhing cloud mass that appeared right in front of Seth's outstretched fingers. The wave of storm energy collided with the boats, blowing up all but the middle boat. The boat that Sarak was in was flung skywards, and the ferocious wind picked it up and flew it out to sea for several miles. When it crashed, the boats planking groaned for a single second, before it buckled under the pressure. Leaving Sarak stranded far out at sea.

He floated out on the sea for several days before a Navy Freighter picked him up, and after a bit of due process, locked up in the brig for the crime of piracy on the high seas.

9898989898989898989898989898989898989898989898

The town was in an uproar; a huge celebration was being thrown for the hero that had saved their village from Sarak Skyfol. Large toasts, and delectable food followed the trio long into the night. After several hours of unprecedented partying, the only 4 not drunk were Elizabeth, Seth, Zach, and the old shoppe owner.

"How come y'all four aren't drunk?" He asked. The three of them all gave a knowing smile to each other.

"We actually prefer plain old grape juice." Zach replied. "That and we all get sick when we have fermented beverages."

"Oh, why's that?" He laughed.

"Religious reasons, plus our parents got together and cursed us. Our bodies naturally reject that kind of stuff." Elizabeth replied.

"Your tone of voice doesn't describe it as a curse." He pointed out.

"Curse or blessing, its just part of our lives at the moment." Seth noted. He nodded a few times, and then stared off into space for a full minute.

"But what do we do about the light house?" He asked. Silence filled the space as everybody considered the implications.

"You're not just a stall owner are you?" Seth pointed out shrewdly. The old man threw his hands up into the air.

"You got me. I'm Alex Tsorem actually. Mayor of this fine village." He replied. "When the pirates appeared I hid my identity so they couldn't hold me hostage or anything."

"Smart move, cowardly, but smart." Seth said.

A young girl came up to the table and flung herself onto the mayor's lap. "Papi" she cried happily. Alex laughed as he embraced his cute daughter.

"I'm so glad you're back." He cried, tears beginning to fall down his face.

"I think I have an idea." Seth said. He leaned over putting his face right in front of the young girls.

"You wanna help your daddy right?" Seth asked, the young girl appraised Seth for a second with a critical eye before nodding her head.

"Do you wanna learn some magic, so you can run the lighthouse, and fight any nasty pirates that could attack the village?" Seth asked. She thought about it very seriously for a little while before nodding again. Seth nodded back, and reached into a small circular pouch he had on his belt. He pulled out the same white spell circle that he had used on the ship captain earlier that day. He then shrunk the spell, down to the size of a small marble, and then applied a tutorial magic to it.

"Now open up your eye real big." He said. She blinked her eyes a few times, and then opened them up as big as she possibly could. He then placed the circle into the girl's right eye. A bright flash, and then everything went back to normal. The girl's right eye held the spell circle firmly in the iris, giving an odd effect to her eyes.

"Treat this power well, it can be either your greatest tool, or your greatest enemy." Seth said wisely.

"Thanks for this." Alex said. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

" New clothes, food, and a ride to the mainland." Seth said.

"That we can do boy, that we can do." Alex replied.


	3. Puppet Master

"Thank you." Seth, Zach, and Elizabeth yelled at the large ship that had dropped them off in a small inlet bay that they had found as soon as they entered port. They would have gone on with the ship for a long while longer, taking them all the way to Magnolia, but Zach had other ideas.

"So where do you need us to go?" Elizabeth asked. Zach looked up and down the bay, trying to find a way up the rocky cliff sides, so they could get onto the mainland.

"I've got a friend near here that I would like to visit. I hate it when it when I don't have any dolls on hand." Zach said.

"Aww so cute." Elizabeth cried, giving Zach a big hug. " A little boy and his dolls." Zach shoved her away.

"I'm not a kid. 14, I am 14 years old. A teenager, not a boy." Zach fumed. Elizabeth laughed, and rubbed his head.

"As long as you continue to play with dolls, you will always be just a little boy." Elizabeth said. Zach scowled at her, but turned away.

"It's only a few miles away from here. We just have to head to the village of Rosette, and its in a warehouse just up into the mountains above there." Zach replied.

"What's so special about the dolls the guy here makes? One doll looks just the same as another to me." Seth said. Zach's scowl turned into a stunned glare.

"Just like the other. Each and every puppet has its own special character. Everything from the gloss and varnish, to what wood it is made up of. They all have their own voice, though I wouldn't expect a lost anti-mage like you to understand." Zach retorted. Seth stared at him for a second and then just shrugged, and continued up the Cliffside.

The trio continued their journey, soon putting the seaside long behind them as they wandered inland towards the village of Rosette. They soon found a road that allowed them to walk easily the rest of the way into the village.

"Oh, they have fresh sea cucumber here." Elizabeth said saliva dripping from the corners of her lips.

"No, we keep going." Zach said determinedly. He grabbed the back of Elizabeth's collar, and started to drag her along the road.

"I haven't had sea cucumber in so long. I would love to have some more." She cried.

"You had some at the party before we left the island. I think you'll survive." Zach said, continuing to walk forward.

"But…. But…. They apply special seasoning to it, and then they smoke it with apple wood." Elizabeth wailed, tears flowing down her face now, with that and the drool that flowed from her mouth, her face was seriously soaked.

"We can eat it later." Zach stated. Elizabeth almost threw a tantrum, but Seth calmed her down a little by disappearing, and bringing back a small example of Rosette's local specialty. Elizabeth looked at Seth as a savior for a few seconds, before she downed the offering in one bite. She then stood up, and used one of her handkerchiefs to dab at her face very daintily.

Zach shook his head in disbelief. Honestly, could these two actually act like grown-ups for an hour? This was important. He had only been able to watch when Seth was the only one that could battle the pirates back on the island. For some reason, none of his puppets had been available, and every single one of the puppet strings that he used was gone. Normal twine, or rope just wouldn't work. It had to be honest to goodness puppet strings; nothing else could hold the magic just right in order to control a puppet. Zach took a lot of pride in his magic. It really felt like his magic was the only link that he still had with his parents, and he had mastered the art that his parents had taught him to the very best of his ability.

The next time his family would be threatened, he would be the one that would save them. It wasn't a matter of pride; it was a matter of love.

After a few miles of following a rough mountain track, that seemed more overgrown than what Zach remembered, they found an old beaten warehouse, with a large amount of ivy climbing up the dingy looking walls. The tiles on the roof were cracked with weather damage, and several of them around the edges threatened to fall down at a gentle breeze. A large field of weeds surrounded the building, only a small track leading towards the disheveled door, and then another leading back to a small corral with several horses chewing on some hay.

"This place looks like it's seen better days." Elizabeth noted. Zach looked at the building in shock. His friend Frye would never have left his yard and warehouse in such a terrible shamble.

"Something's wrong." Zach whispered to himself. All three of them cautiously edged closer to the rickety building, and Zach peeked through the half open door. It seemed to just be a bunch of shadows until his eyes accustomed to the gloom inside the building. Everything inside was still, except for a bright light coming from the rear of the interior. Zach knew that was the sleeping quarters that Frye had placed back there cause he was often too tired by his work to walk down the mountain to visit his family.

"I'm going to sneak in there." Zach said. He pushed the door open cringing slightly when it creaked. He stepped into the dark interior, and tried to stick along the wall as he moved forward. A creak behind him about half way across the room, almost made him jump out of his skin. He whipped around to find Seth and Elizabeth following after him.

"I can do this by myself." He whispered.

"Are you sure? You don't have any puppets on you at the moment." Elizabeth asked.

"I am sure. Plus it will be less dangerous with just one." Zach said firmly. Elizabeth hesitated for second, before nodding, taking Seth by the arm and dragging him back towards the open door.

Zach continued forward until he could look through the small windows that the light was coming out of. Inside the small room sat several bunks, each one of them filled with a sleeping figure. The light reflected from dozens of small surfaces strewn in and around the entire area, each one of them letting off their own gold or silver glow. Up against the far wall, instead of the large stack of puppets and dolls that Zach remembered, there was a stack of weapons, a couple of maces, several swords, and a particularly nasty looking axe with a long spike sticking out in the opposite direction of the head. The only other feature that he could see was a map that was only half visible on the table that was right under the window. It marked out trade route that passed by the mountain on the other side peak that shadowed the warehouse's location. From the proportions of the map, the road was only a few miles from the warehouse's location. Odd, Zach thought. He never remembered there being a road right there before.

Instead of sitting around any longer, he started to search around the dark shop. After a few moments of searching, all he could find were large chests on top of the many worktables, which held long flowing fabrics from all over Ishgal. Silks, cottons, and flamboyantly dyed samples of fabrics that Zach hadn't ever seen before, there was none of the puppets or materials that used to cover the tables abundantly.

He started to search around the edges of the storeroom until he accidently tripped over a large roll of something. After popping back up to his feet, and making sure he hadn't been heard, he investigated the item. He picked it up, and as he felt it his hopes started to rise. It was a fine string, made to be as strong as a wire, though it was about as thin as a fishing line, and practicably invisible. Frye and him had been working on the perfect type of puppet string for years, and he must have made it. Though that was before the S class test had happened. Zach remembered getting to the island, but after that things got blurry and he couldn't remember anything that had happened until he woke up with Mavis yelling at them.

Zach continued to look around the edges of the room until he found several more of the spools of string that he desired. String, good. Now he needed a puppet, or two. He continued searching for few more minutes, but not a single puppet could be found. He finally gave up, and crept to the front of the store again.

"So when is our next heist planned?" A voice said from farther back in the spacious room. Zach dived under one of the worktables, hoping that his presence hadn't been noticed.

"Not for another few days." Came another voice, one a whole lot gruffer. "We need to lay low for a few days after we stole all of the merchandise from that textile caravan that came down the road last week."

"So then what are we going to do with all of the textiles then?" The first voice asked.

"Don't worry, I've got a buyer set up, we just need to hold on to them for a while until he's ready to pick them up." Came the second.

Zach had heard enough; it was time to get out of there. He rolled out from under the table, and then crawled to the partially open door. As soon as he exited the building, he grabbed Elizabeth and Seth's hands and dashed for the cover of the trees.

98989898989898989898989898989898989898989898989898989898989

"So it looks like your friends not there anymore." Seth commented. After returning to Rosette from the warehouse, they found themselves in a local tavern. Elizabeth was downing another dish of sea cucumber, her 13th one since they sat down.

"It seems like its been taken over by a band of thieves." Zach replied.

"Well, they aren't taking care of the building very well." Elizabeth commented between bites.

"Yeah…" Zach replied, trailing off. "This doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't?" Seth asked.

"I was just there two months ago. The place was spick and span, not a single weed, or trace of neglect. That and there were 1000's of puppets inside of the storage room. All of those are gone now." Zach said. He worried about Frye. Frye had been a great friend ever since Zach had found out about him, and had started to get all of his puppets from him. Frye knew exactly how to give each and every one of the puppets that he made it's own individual character. His talent was akin to magic in and of itself, but Frye had no sense for the magic touch. He wasn't physically strong either, but he was creative, and it made up for any of his supposed weak points.

Elizabeth sighed in pleasure. "I sure do love Sea cucumber." Zach glared at her, and then stood up.

"Where are you going? I'm not done yet." Elizabeth asked.

"Just to the restroom." He said. On his way to the restroom he snuck into the kitchen, found the next plate, a sea cucumber taco. He smiled maliciously as he grabbed a bottle of Igneel level hot sauce and began to liberally apply it to the taco. After he had finished his little bit of mischief, he continued on his way to the restroom.

Zach sat on the stall for a while, stewing over the disappearance of his friend. His mood distracted him from hearing the frantic screams for milk that erupted from the interior of the restaurant that came several minutes later. He just had to figure out where Frye had gone too. Without even realizing it he let out a long pronounced sigh.

"I'm sorry to disturb, but it seems like you aren't feeling so well in there." Came a voice from the next stall over. "By chance do I need to get you a roll of toilet paper?"

"No, just confused and unhappy. I can't seem to find Frye, and his warehouse has been taken over by thieves." Zach replied, completely ignoring the fact that he was having a conversation during his bowel movements.

"You knew Frye, but you sound so young." The voice said.

"Yeah, we were really great friends. He made some of the best puppets that I have ever had the chance to use." Zach said melancholy.

"It's sad how pops died. His shop was taken over by a gang thieves, and he had a stroke after he got home." The voice said. "The poor old timer."

"I don't remember him being that old." Zach replied.

"He hid it well. I started calling him Frye Dye, when I found out how many bottles of hair dye he had." Zach nodded, and then finished up his business.

"Thanks for the help." Zach said as he left the restroom. He didn't wait for a reply; he was determined to make this right. No thief would get away with causing so much grief to Frye.

98989898989898989898989898989988989898989898989898989898

Zach spent the next while gathering as much supplies as he possibly could. A whole cord of wood, an axe, and a bunch of knives, a large amount normal twine, and finally a couple buckets of glue, he then sequestered himself in a borrowed work shed that he had found and started to work. It was only after several hours of searching that Seth and Elizabeth had been able to even find Zach. By that point he had made all of the necessary parts, put them all into the right shape, and was assembling them all at a feverish pace.

"Zach are you ok." Elizabeth asked, sincerely concerned for her friend.

"….dare hurt …. friend… suffer the wrath of every single…. Each and every puppet….. wrath… doom… pain….. lot's of pain…" Zach muttered to himself, he completely ignoring Elizabeth.

"This must be bugging more than we realized." Seth said.

"Should we just go and take out the thieves before he gets done? You know to take out his pain." Elizabeth asked.

"No, he's got to work this out himself." Seth replied. "If he doesn't do it, then he's going to find something else to destroy. This will be more constructive than that by far."

"We will be there to back him up though, right?" she asked.

"He couldn't keep me from it even if he tried." He replied.

989898989898989898989989989898989898989898989898989

Zach moved forward, fully prepared to move his plan into action. He stood in front of the door to the inside of the shop. His hand moved slowly towards the door, and he knocked on it a few times. A number of shouts came from the inside, and a number of feet could be heard until the door opened. Standing before Zach were 12 of the thieves, each one holding at least a knife, if not something much bigger.

"It's just a kid." Someone towards the back said.

"Yeah, what's a shrimp doing here?" another said. Zach kept his head down, muttering the entire time.

"What's that you say?" The biggest of them growled, stepping forward, and grabbing Zach's collar.

"Frye will be avenged." Zach replied louder.

"Huh, who's Frye?" He said, shaking Zach around. A large vein appeared on Zach's head, and he began to laugh maniacally. He twitched his fingers slightly, activating his magic. The entire forest rustled at once, as just around 50 small wooden figures fell out of the trees. The thief never even heard them coming until he was swarmed over by their small bodies. Each of them held a small knife, which they used not to kill, nut to cut every last scrap of clothing off the thief, and then they used rope that each one had a long length to tie him up on the ground.

All of the rest of the thieves looked on in horror as their comrade was soon scuttled out of sight. As one they charged through the door, trying to lay their hand on the maniacally laughing mage that stood there before them. The puppets were infinitely much faster, and their vast numbers soon proved to be the turning factor in the groups defeat. Each one of them soon found themselves being carted over to a growing pile of groaning individuals.

After depositing each and every one of them on the ground at the edge of the clearing, the puppets returned to their master, and as one they moved with him as they entered the dank interior of the dilapidated warehouse. There was no sight of any more thieves, but Zach wasn't going to believe that had been all of the blasted thieves. There was at least the chief left. He spread out the dolls, as if in a web and they searched the interior of shop. For a few straight minutes, nothing happened.

The web was suddenly disturbed as it reached the opposing wall, as several of the puppets were cut down in quick succession. Zach quickly moved the surrounding puppets in, and felt the vibrations through his strings tell him that there was small pocket of resistance right where the first puppet had disappeared. He grouped in the rest of his puppets together and brought them down on the spot where the first had disappeared. After a few more moments of fighting, it quieted down a little bit more, Zach's puppets proving to be superior to whatever they had been fighting. Zach moved farther in to the building, cautiously approaching the back of the building. When he got to the back, he noticed that it hadn't been a person that he had been attacking; it had been a very thoroughly put together set of china dolls. Each one had been smashed to pieces, but the disturbing part was that each one of them held two foot long enchanted rapiers.

"What?" Zach whispered. He sensed a burst of magic above him, and he dived backwards, hoping to avoid the new attacker. When the dust cleared, he saw a large humanoid figure, tall and spindly, with 2 arms on one side, and three on the other. Even with the darkness, the imposing figure was an ugly construct, but Zach could see through the ugly design, and see the beautiful composition of the body, made entirely out of metal, with lubricated hinges and pulleys. Large springs wrapped around the legs, and what seemed to be a magically powered hydraulics system attached to each joint on the beast. Whoever had made this puppet, had spent a lot of time on it, because it was a certified masterpiece of ingenuity.

Zach reacted instantly and rushed the beast with his small wooden puppets, each one trying to glomp onto the body, and joints of the oversized puppet, in order to restrict its movements. Over half of the remaining puppets were taken out by the extended claws on the 5 hands of the massive puppet in front of them. Numbers worked in his advantage, and soon enough the big guy's movement turned into a slow mockery of its former capabilities.

A slow clap came from the lighted interior of the sleeping chamber. A small man with a large handlebar moustache and an insane cowlick came out.

"Good job there short stuff." He drawled. "Though if all you can do is stop the puppet, than it's still my win." He nodded his head, and the big puppet's gears started to wind together, the springs on its legs compressing down to its limit.

"I'll have you pay for hurting my friend. Frye didn't deserve his creations, and shop to be maligned by a bloody thief." Zach said acidly.

"Oh, that old man. He didn't stand a chance, since his own puppets up and attacked him." He laughed. "After that, this became MY base, and not even the local authorities have had the guts enough to do anything against me."

"Well I'm not the local authorities. Your lack of decency appalls me." Zach muttered angrily.

"What decency could that be? I'm a thief." He smirked.

"Every body has decency, given them by the Gods." Zach replied. "Those who choose to abandon their morals will feel pain. Your time is now, not later by the way." Zach replied, starting to really get serious.

"It's a good talk, but wasted on my ears." The thief replied, and then he nodded again. The coiled springs released, sending the large puppet rocketing into the air, and through the ceiling. Zach had to take cover as debris rained down from above. The puppet landed in front of him, every single one of Zach's puppets now completely gone.

With the added light, Zach saw his salvation. Little holes had been placed all over the puppet, just big enough for a small string to enter. Zach wasted not time in sending his strings streaking into each and every one of the holes. A few seconds later, the deadly puppet stopped in its tracks. The two magic forces that strived to take control were now duking it out inside of its large metallic body.

"Looks like Frye was making this for me." Zach said. The thief frowned, and then tried to pull back the doll with his magic, trying to break it away from Zach's strings. Zach pulled back on the strings, and both sides were stale mated for a few seconds.

"This is my doll, I stole it, so now it rightfully belongs to me." The thief said, giving it a mighty tug with his magic.

"Yet, it's mine. Frye made this specifically for me." Zach said pulling it back towards him.

"It's mine." The thief cried.

"No, it's mine." Zach yelled back.

"It is not." The thief replied.

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too"

"Is not"

"Is too", the tug of war continued on, both mages continually getting more and more frustrated the longer it continued. It honestly sounded like a bunch of kids bickering over a toy.

A blur appeared behind the thief, and Seth appeared with a long irregular piece of wood in his hands. He smashed the thief's head, dropping him to the floor with a light thud. The thief's magic dissipated in an instant, and Zach's instinctive pull on the puppet brought it flying towards him. He was then smashed into the wall by his own doing, but ended up getting up after that with no scratch on him. He quickly stashed the large puppet in his reequip space, and glared at Seth.

"That was my fight." He complained.

"If you say so. I just saw you fighting over a toy." Seth snickered.

"So, I would have won it eventually. I didn't need your help." He said.

"I just wanted to help." Seth replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Now what are we going to do with the thieves?"

"Turn them into the highway authorities, along with the all of the gold and merchandise that they've stolen." Zach replied.

"Good enough for me." Seth replied.

99898989898989898989898989898998989889898989889898

Author's note: Been having great time writing this, if you have any questions feel free to ask. Like and comment please. The next chapter will be all about Elizabeth.


End file.
